Hold Your Heart

Lylah stood at the center of the conference room, urgently waiting for their last team member to arrive, but he was still nowhere to be found.

She clicked her tongue as her gaze connected with Luna's. Her palpable rage filled the room, making it hard to breathe. Luna slowly gestured for Lylah to calm down, soothingly pointing her palm downwards.

Luna could feel her friend's emotions. After all, they were in this predicament because of Raj. And she knew very well how it felt when the heat was on you, especially if you weren't the cause of the problem.

"Ahem," Lylah cleared her throat.

"Sorry," she apologized.

"I apologize sincerely for the few minutes wasted that could have been used to discuss the agenda for this sudden meeting. I'm sorry to say, but it seems Mr. Owusu won't be joining us anytime soon," Lylah pleaded with her team.

Her eyes apologetically scanned the familiar faces. This was a different level of embarrassment.

"Shall we begin?" Lylah asked, and they all nodded.

"So, the Liason project still hasn't been submitted yet, and we have until Friday to submit it, which is two days away," Lylah dropped the bomb.

She searched their faces to see if any of them were surprised, but surprisingly, none of them were.

"I see I was the only one surprised to find out," she muttered.

"Of course, you were the only one who failed to realize that Raj was slacking," Liam replied rather sharply.

And he was right. Maybe her feelings for him made her overlook a lot of stuff. Things that were clearly visible but she refused to see.

"Liam!" Luna shot him a glare, which Lylah was quite thankful for.

Because what could be more embarrassing than her past relationship being the center of attraction?

"Alright, so the bureau contract will be drafted here at this very instant, as well as the letter of intent," Lylah declared.

She waited to see if any of her team members would object, but no one did. And she was thankful, at least, it made her believe that the level of respect they had for her as team captain wasn't down the drain yet.

"Jorge, is your data concerning the project scope ready?" she asked.

"Yes, Captain," he saluted with a smirk.

A smile tugged at Lylah's lips. Always leave it to Jorge to uplift her mood.

"Good, then the floor is yours," Lylah smiled.

She made way to her seat as she awaited Jorge's presentation.

Jorge stood by the monitor plastered on the wall as he visually displayed his outline project scope for the Liason Project.

"Fellow teammates, so for starters, the Liason Project aims to publish a high-quality literary work, showcasing exceptional writing and storytelling. The project involves manuscript development, content creation, design, production, and marketing," he started, before pointing to the project's objectives.

He explained the need for the two companies to publish a literary work of extreme high standard, of not only quality but excellence.

He also stated the need to establish a strong online presence as the Liason Representatives were mostly known for their famous digital books.

Lylah listened carefully and started to jot down the team members involved in the project.

A smile braced her lips as she heard Jorge make mention of the production of audiobooks and film or theatrical adaptations, all under the Liason Project.

Jorge mouthed a thank you as he walked to his seat, attracting a series of applause from his teammates.

"Jorge, I'm impressed, but there are no timelines and deliverables in your project scope presentation," Lylah pointed out.

"Well, Liam would be presenting that," Jorge replied.

Liam took that as his cue to approach the monitor.

The visual display showed the timelines for the submission of manuscripts, designs, and even pre-publication and post-publication schedules.

"Luna, do you have everything?" Lylah asked, just to cross-check if the contract bureau was fully ready.

"All done," Luna replied.

"Payment is 65% for PROSE AND CO and 35% for LIASON REPRESENTATIVES," Luna breathed.

Her eyes twinkled, far more proud of herself than it looked.

"Are you guys in support of Luna's bargaining power?" Lylah asked.

"It's okay," Francheska voiced out.

"Martha?," Luna questioned.

"Affirmative," Martha smiled.

"Now let's move on to the letter of intent," Lylah smiled.

Luna passed the laptop to Lylah for her to cross-check the overview of the contract bureau.

"Is he even aware of our meeting? I mean, this meeting wasn't scheduled for," Francheska defended his dereliction.

Lylah bit down on her lips in frustration. No names were mentioned, but it was enough to trigger her anger.

"Oh please, Francheska, stop defending that brute," Liam scoffed.

"Yes, Francheska, defending me won't get you in my pants, ask Lylah how she did it," Raj smirked, standing before the team with his arms spread over his chest.

Lylah breathed in deeply, finding her hands tapping gently on her chest as if telling herself to take heart.

"God, if I leave this room without reacting, it's all on you," she told herself.

"How nice of you to join us, Mr. Owusu," Lylah said, refusing to acknowledge his disrespect.

This seemed to annoy him, as he always knew how to get beneath her skin. But this time, it was clearly not working.

"Here's your letter of intent," he said, placing it before Lylah, and then he trotted away.

"What a jerk," Luna mumbled.

"You have to do something about him; he can't keep screwing up, and you keep covering up for him," Liam scoffed.

Luna sucked in a breath. She really didn't want to discuss her relationship at work.

Or maybe she was giving it a chance, as team leader, she could even get Raj fired.

Why was she still being lenient with him?

She was over him, right?

She kept asking herself this question over and over.

"Thanks, guys, that's all for now. I'll leave this on the boss's table before I retire for the night," she smiled, handing over the laptop and the letter of intent to Luna.

She picked up her stuff and left the conference room, leaving Liam's words unaddressed. But she knew sooner or later, she would have no other choice than to confront it.